Vi
An English feminine diminutive of the name Violet or Victoria.
Name Census estimates that about 1,003 living Americans carry the first name Vi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Vi today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vi births was 1982 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vi. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Vi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 341,729 Americans
Peak year
1982
41 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
1998 SSA rank
#10,184
Tracked since 1916
Census
Vi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,758 people with the first name Vi, which placed it at #4,807 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,807
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,758 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.2%. The next largest groups are White (9.0%) and Hispanic (2.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Vi described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Vi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.2% · 3,239
- White9.0% · 338
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 74
- Black or African American1.4% · 53
- Two or more races1.2% · 46
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Vi
Vi leans heavily female at 88.4% of total registrations, but 125 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vi as a male name
- Ranked #11,248 in 1998
- 5 male births in 1998
- Peak: 1981 (11 births)
Vi as a female name
- Ranked #10,184 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1982 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vi on both sides of the split. Of the 3,761 people counted with this name, 962 were male (25.6%) and 2,799 were female (74.4%).
Popularity
Vi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vi from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 321 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vi by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Vi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vi
The given name Vi has its origins in the Vietnamese language, where it is a shortened form of the name Vỹ. The name Vỹ is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese word 威, meaning "power" or "might." This etymology suggests that the name Vi was historically associated with strength, authority, and leadership qualities.
In Vietnam, the name Vi has been in use for centuries, with records indicating its presence as early as the 12th century during the Lý Dynasty. It was a popular name among the Vietnamese nobility and ruling class, often given to princes and nobles to symbolize their power and influence.
One of the earliest and most notable historical figures bearing the name Vi was Trần Hưng Vỹ, a prominent general and military strategist who lived in the 13th century. He played a crucial role in the victories of the Trần Dynasty against the Mongol invasions, earning him a revered place in Vietnamese history.
Another notable figure was Vi Văn Hiến (1515-1595), a renowned Confucian scholar and poet during the Lê Dynasty. His works and teachings left a lasting impact on Vietnamese literature and philosophy.
In the 19th century, Vi Tân Bửu (1810-1873) was a celebrated Vietnamese scholar and mandarin who made significant contributions to the cultural and educational spheres of his time.
Moving into the 20th century, Vi Quốc Thanh (1889-1965) was a prominent Vietnamese nationalist and journalist who played a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence from French colonial rule.
More recently, Vi Văn Hiếu (1938-2022) was a highly respected Vietnamese writer and poet, known for his poignant works that explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition.
While the name Vi has its roots in Vietnamese culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in Scandinavia, where it is sometimes considered a diminutive form of the name Viktoria or Viola.
People
Vi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,003 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vi going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 341,729 US residents.
Is Vi a common name?
We classify Vi as "Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,080 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vi most popular?
The single biggest year for Vi was 1982, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vi is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,758 people with the name Vi, or 1.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,807 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Vi in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Vi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vi on both sides of the split. Of the 3,761 people counted with this name, 962 were male (25.6%) and 2,799 were female (74.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Vi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.2%. The next largest groups are White (9.0%) and Hispanic (2.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Vi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Vi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (3,239 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Vi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vi a female name?
Yes, 88.4% of people registered as Vi in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Vi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vi in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Vi can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Vi?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Vi on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.